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White House COVID-19 Taskforce claims testing capacity sufficient for first phase of ending lockdown

18 April 2020 14:22 (UTC +04:00)

US vice-president Mike Pence insisted on Friday that there were enough COVID-19 tests to enable states to follow the first phase of federal guidelines released on 16 April to gradually begin relaxing pandemic-triggered lockdown measures, APA reports quoting The Guardian.

Responding to criticism of the administration’s roadmap to reopen the country Pence told a White House briefing for reporters:

“Our best scientists and health experts assess that today we have a sufficient amount of testing to meet the requirements of a phase one reopening if state governors should choose to do that.”

Underscoring that the federal government would expect states to bear responsibility for testing programmes, Pence added:

“As the president’s made clear, we want governors and states to manage the testing operations in their states. We’ve given criteria, we’ve given guidance for how we think that would best operate, but we’re looking for the states, we’re looking for the governors to manage it.”